03/27/09 Wisconsin Connects is Launched
3/27/2009
Monday, March 23, 2009 - Wisconsin Connects is Launched
Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton launched her new initiative, Wisconsin Connects, at the Wisconsin Education Media and Technology Association (WEMTA) conference at Monona Terrace on Monday morning.
With Wisconsin Connects, Lt. Governor Lawton partners with ePals, a global community of collaborative learners, teachers, and academic experts in over 200 countries and territories.
“Wisconsin Connects gives students access to high-tech tools that will provide entry to other cultures, build relationships that strengthen America’s stature in the world, improve global understanding and position Wisconsin students to develop their global competencies at a young age,” said Lt. Governor Lawton. “Participating students will improve their communication and internet technology skills and become better prepared to compete in a 21st century global economy.”
The Wisconsin Connects initiative grew out of a trade and cultural mission to China led by Lt. Governor Lawton last October as chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association. While in China, Lawton toured a middle school in the Sichuan province, the region of China most devastated by the 2008 earthquakes, and agreed to explore the potential for an international student correspondence program.
Lawton also announced that Kathy Sanders’s first grade classroom at Taylor Prairie School in Cottage Grove would be the first to sign up for Wisconsin Connects. Ms. Sanders will use ePals to find a partner classroom in China with whom her students can trade e-mails and blog posts about natural resources and energy conservation.
ePals provides these tools free of charge to Wisconsin schools and allows teachers to access a variety of social networking tools and content, including the Classroom Match feature, e-mail, blogging tools, focus areas, and forums. To sign up, just visit www.ltgov.wisconsin.gov and click on the “Wisconsin Connects” button.
Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans 3rd Biennial Convention
Lt. Governor Lawton provided the luncheon keynote speech for the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans Convention on Monday afternoon. The alliance is an organization that works to protect America’s health and economic security for seniors. This coalition of AFL-CIO unions and other community-based organizations dedicates its work to advancing social and economic justice.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009 - All Wisconsin Academic Team Luncheon
Lt. Governor Lawton spoke at the luncheon honoring the All-Wisconsin Academic Team in Madison on Tuesday.
The All-USA Community College Academic Team is a merit award based on students' community college accomplishments. Every year, the honor society for two-year campuses and technical colleges, Phi Theta Kappa, partners with USA Today to offer scholarships to 20 students nationwide. Students first must qualify at the state level. This year, 14 Wisconsin students qualified with the state to compete nationally for this scholarship.
Above) MATC President Bettsey Barhorst, Sydney Wallner, Lt. Governor Lawton and State Rep. Kim Hixon,
Lawton congratulated the honorees and expressed her hope that a two-year degree would be just a punctuation point in their academic career. She described the fast-changing economy today that requires maximum intellectual agility and broad preparation.
Friday-Green Entrepreneurship UW Forum Series
As part of the her Green Economy Agenda, Lt. Governor Lawton headlined the Sustainability Meets Entrepreneurship forum, part of the Business, Environment, and Social Responsibility (BESR) forum series at the UW-Madison Business School on Friday.
Lawton provided participants a sense of the political context for would-be entrepreneurs in green-tech and clean-tech businesses. She surveyed current and proposed state and federal programs designed to foster entrepreneurship in the green economy, including the federal stimulus package and President Obama’s FY2010 budget proposal as well as Wisconsin’s Energy Independence Fund and venture capital and early seed investor tax credits.
“Wisconsin needs the next generation of entrepreneurs to move into place quickly. The will serve as the design team for our green economy; they will clear the path out of this economic crisis,” said Lawton. “Local economic growth and job creation hinges on our ability to connect these bright thinkers to early capital and other resources provided by the state and federal governments.”
The forum series was motivated and inspired by Lawton’s Green Economy Agenda, initiatives developed to empower smart individual and institutional action related to energy conservation and independence, water and climate change – strategies to strengthen Wisconsin’s competitive position in a global economy
The BESR forum is part of the Wiscontrepreneur Initiative, made possible in part by a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and administered by the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations.
Left) Doug Bradley of the UW Office of Corporate Relations, Lt. Governor Lawton and Tom Eggert of the Wisconsin DNR
